Simon Sinek, a famous marketing expert said, “People don’t buy what you do, they buy why you do it.” His aim is to first and foremost create an emotional connection with the audience. As a business owner, you juggle a lot of hats. Chances are one of those may include creating content for your website. This proves difficult and time-consuming for many. Let’s learn more about content creation and how the emotional connection through storytelling can be used.
When Simon Sinek spoke the quote mentioned above he made a strong point. Most humans react emotionally first then logically to the world around us. Thus it makes sense in marketing to cater to that emotional side when creating content. That is why he developed the Golden Circle of Storytelling. When pulling on the heartstrings of your audience, the need for your product or service is easily recognized and hopefully will end up in a sale.
When creating content for a blog post, web page, or even social media post, consider writing to connect emotionally with your audience. This can be using humor, a dilemma, or a shared problem.
Traditional Content Creation
When you read a traditional blog from a business that is aimed at educating their audience, you may notice the content follows a format similar to this:
- WHAT the product or service is.
- HOW the product or service solves a problem, fulfills a need, or enhances life.
- WHY you need the product or service, why it was created, or why you do what your business does.
This traditional way of content creation is not wrong by any means and has produced great results. You can certainly use that format and create great content, but there are other ways of writing and organizing your content that may help foster more of an emotional connection with your audience.
Storytelling and the Golden Circle
The “storytelling” method flips this traditional script and is called the Golden Circle of Storytelling. This order of writing style resonates strongly with your audience on an emotional level.
The Golden Circle of Storytelling looks more like this:
- Why– Why are you doing what you’re doing? Include feelings and connect with human behavior.
- How– How will solving this problem make a difference or help your audience in general? What are the options for solving the problem?
- What– What are you offering? Explain your product or service and how it is the best choice to solve the problem.
The order matters with this style of content creation because it appeals to the emotional side of our brains before the analytical side. They connect with the need presented in the WHY subject matter. You can use humor, stress, a shared dilemma, or pull on the heartstrings (think of Sarah McLachlan and all of the helpless animal commercials!) to create an emotional connection.
Tips for Creating Content with the StoryTelling Style
When Writing Your Why
When writing your why be sure to consider your audience. Think of how they feel regarding the subject. Will your content answer a question? Solve a problem? How do you feel when you are dealing with that problem or looking for that answer? The Why is all about grabbing attention through emotional connection.
You may choose to write in the first-person point of view using “I, me, and my,” to strongly connect with your audience or in the second-person using “you and yours” which would be good if it is more “how-to” content. Use third-person using “he, she, they” if you are giving a customer example or case study. The important thing is to be consistent throughout.
When Writing Your How
When writing the how in a storytelling style you are writing how the conflict can be resolved. If your story lacks a clear conflict, then it turns into a sales pitch. The How is the key for your audience to see that your product or service will benefit them, solve a real problem in their life, enhance their current quality of life, or simply make life more fun.
When Writing Your What
After you have connected with your audience emotionally through your why, then clearly identified the conflict and ways to solve it through your how, it is time to introduce the resolution of your conflict through the what. This is where you wrap up your story by explaining in more detail your product or service. Explain why it is the best solution and be sure to include a clear call to action.
An Example of Storytelling and Content Creation
Perhaps I wanted to create a blog post with the intention of selling Dogwood’s blog writing services.
The Why
Goal: To emotionally connect with you as a business owner by acknowledging how busy you are with so much to do.
Connection Points:
- Creating a blog post can be frustrating and time-consuming. After all, you have to brainstorm content, put it together in an appealing way, then get it posted on your website.
- Writing blog content can pull you away from other things that desperately need your attention.
- Sometimes you just don’t have time or the writing skills to get it done or done well.
The How
Goal: To identify the conflict you have and provide options and solutions for the conflict
Conflict: How do you solve the need for acquiring good blog content for your site and juggle all the things you also need to do?
Possible Solutions:
- Don’t create new content at all and miss out on all the benefits of new content such as organic traffic through SEO, social media, and email newsletter content, and positioning you as the expert in front of your audience.
- You could task the blog writing to someone in your office but that may put them in the same position you are in by taking them away from other needed tasks (and unless they are a great writer, the content may not be good!)
- A digital marketing professional would be best tasked with blog writing. They understand how blogs are best written, how to optimize them for SEO, and most of all how to connect with your audience and provide value to them.
- Hiring the blog writing out to professionals would greatly reduce your role as a business owner in the process but bring in all the benefits of publishing great new content on your site.
The What
Goal: Help the audience understand why your business, product, or service is the best choice to solve the problem.
The resolution to your blog writing dilemma is Dogwood Media Solutions. Our digital media specialists provide:
- Take the burden and workload off of you so you can focus on other needs with your business.
- Professional and interesting blog content for your business.
- Research to find the questions your audience is asking, create content around those questions to position you as the expert, provide real value to your readers, and help you rank higher in organic search results.
- Handle the technical part of posting content for you.
- Can write one post a month or more all for an affordable price.
Then my blog post will end with a clear call to action.
Dogwood Media Solutions and Content Creation
We hope you have learned something from this content creation and storytelling breakdown. The storytelling style is simply a different way to look at putting content together that builds strong emotional connections with your audience. Our crew at Dogwood loves connecting and would love to partner with you for all of your digital marketing needs to help you rise above the noise on the web. Reach out today with any questions or to discuss our content creation services.
